


O2 + CO2 + 4 Hours

by CatWingsAthena



Series: Elemental Powers AU [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Creepy Murdoc (MacGyver TV 2016), Crossover, Difficult Decisions, Found Family, Gen, Sorry CM people this is in the middle of a series, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22620391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatWingsAthena/pseuds/CatWingsAthena
Summary: Riley's mom gets kidnapped. That's the first bit of bad news.The good news is, she makes it safely home before anything too awful can happen.The second bit of bad news is that this only happens because Murdoc rescues her.Another one of the United States Magic Regulation Department teams flies in to investigate, only to find themselves caught up in Murdoc's game. Two of their own have been captured, and they've been given an utimatum: drop the case, or never see their two youngest agents alive again. They're investigating, but Murdoc's hidden their agents well, and they're running out of time...
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner & David Rossi, Angus MacGyver & Jack Dalton & Riley Davis, Angus MacGyver & Matilda "Matty" Webber (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton & Matilda "Matty" Webber (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Derek Morgan, Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Matilda "Matty" Webber, Samantha Cage & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen
Series: Elemental Powers AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601146
Comments: 74
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! For the CM people who just clicked: this is the third fic in a series and probably won't make much sense without the background knowledge the other two provide. If you really want to read it, message me on Tumblr (catwingsathena) and I'll try to fill you in. MacGyver people who've been with this series from the beginning: Yes, this is a crossover in the third part of a series I've decided is going to be four parts long. However, you can skip this one if you don't want to deal with the crossover headache. Just move on to the next, when I get that one up, and you'll be fine. I've tried to set it up so you'll be okay even with no knowledge of Criminal Minds, but up to you.
> 
> Okay, with that out of the way, let's get started! This chapter contains references to kidnapping and gun violence. Also, kudos to N1ghtshade for giving me the plotbunny that let me move forward with this story! Hope you enjoy!

Mac, Jack, Riley, and Bozer were just sitting down to dinner when they heard a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” said Mac, hopping out of his chair.

When he opened the door, a woman was standing there, facing away from the door. Her hands were duct-taped behind her back, and she’d been knocking accordingly. As the door opened, she turned around.

“Ms. Davis?” Mac said. Riley’s mother’s face was streaked black from where her mascara had run, but she seemed fairly calm and composed.

“Where’s Riley?” she asked, trying to look past Mac into the house. “Where’s my daughter?”

Just then, Riley appeared by Mac’s side. “Mom?” She took in Diane’s bound hands, tearstained face, messy hair, and disheveled clothing. “Oh God, Mom, what happened?”

“Oh, I’m just glad you’re safe,” said Diane. “When they thought I wasn’t listening, they said they were gonna use me against you...”

“Who, Mom? Who did this?” Riley reached out, hands hovering over Diane, not quite touching. Mac pulled his Swiss army knife out of his pocket, cut Diane’s bonds, and removed the tape.

Diane rubbed her wrists, then wrapped Riley up in a hug, which Riley returned.

Finally, Diane let go and took a deep breath. “Based on what they said, I think it was those people you got mixed up with before... before you went to prison.”

“The Collective?”

“Yes, I think. They never said their name around me, but they were talking about the NSA, and... a cannibal? I couldn’t quite figure it out...”

“It’s alright, Mom, that’s really helpful.”

“But there’s more,” Diane continued. “It doesn’t matter who took me, because... they’re all dead.”

Mac and Riley looked at each other. “What do you mean?” asked Riley.

“I mean, they had me in a chair, with a gun to my head, and they had a script they were going to make me read, but then... someone shot them all.”

“Do you know where this person came from?” asked Mac, who was beginning to get a very uneasy feeling about this.

“No,” said Diane. “I don’t know anything except that he was just suddenly  _ there. _ And he killed them, and then took me into his car, and brought me here. Oh, and he said to give you this.”

Diane unclenched her left hand, in which she held a small scrap of paper.

On the paper, in handwriting, were the words  _ you’re welcome. _

“There’s one more thing,” said Diane. “I noticed his license plate number as he was driving away.” She rattled it off.

Riley smiled faintly. “Nice work, Mom.” She raced into the living room, grabbed her computer, and started typing. “Okay, I’m accessing traffic cams... I have a car with plates matching the one you just gave me pulling up here a few minutes ago and you getting out, let’s see where it’s headed...”

By this time, Jack and Bozer had come over to see what was going on. Jack, wearing an intense frown, whispered something in Riley’s ear.

Riley gritted her teeth, nodded, and turned to her mother. “Hey Mom? I’m gonna show you a picture, okay? And I want you to tell me if you recognize the man I show you.”

Riley pulled an image up on her screen, and Diane instantly nodded. “That’s him,” she said. “That’s the man who saved me.”

Riley blanched, Mac shut his eyes, Jack growled, and Bozer whispered “oh, no.”

On Riley’s screen, Murdoc smiled.

...

Standing in the briefing room with the rest of his team, Jack winced under Patty’s irritated gaze.

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “Riley, your mother was kidnapped by your former employers, The Collective?”

“As far as we know, yes,” said Riley, who was doing an admirable job of keeping calm, considering the circumstances.

“And their intention was to blackmail you into doing another job for them.”

“Based on what my mom said, I think they wanted me to steal something from the NSA. Probably a cyberweapon of some kind.”

“And, for some unknown reason,  _ Murdoc _ decided to rescue your mother and return her to you unharmed, taking out a prominent enemy of the state in the process?”

“That is what we think happened, yes,” said Jack, who wanted to get the attention off Riley. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“And you tried to track Murdoc, but failed.”

Riley looked Patty in the eye. “I was able to trace his car to a warehouse, but he never left. We called Sam and Desi and searched the place, but all we found was the car. Empty. We didn’t touch it in case Phoenix crime scene processing wants to look at it.”

Patty sighed. “Does  _ anyone _ here have  _ any idea _ why Murdoc might have done this?”

“I do,” said Sam.

“Please, enlighten us,” said Patty.

Sam took a breath and sent what looked like an apologetic glance in Mac’s direction. “Since our very first encounter with Murdoc, he’s been obsessed with Mac. Mac, that obsession might extend to your bondmates. He might be trying to protect Riley because he thinks of Riley as connected to you in a substantial enough way that anyone other than him hurting her feels like an affront to him.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Mac shuddered. “Back at Sun Valley, he took me. Not Jack and Riley, he  _ specifically _ took  _ just me.” _

“That’s right,” said Desi. “Honestly? I don’t know what he’s doing, but I don’t think we have all the information yet.”

“You’re probably right,” said Sam. “Unfortunately, I think we’re quite likely to get it, probably sooner rather than later.”

Jack growled. “If that lunatic comes sniffing around here again, I’m gonna—”

Riley made a slicing motion across her throat with a glance at Patty.

“Everyone keep your guard up,” said Patty. “We don’t know what Murdoc’s up to. All we know is it’s nothing good.”

Mac made a face, and Jack locked eyes with him for a second. Then, their eyes rolled in unison.  _ Probably could have figured that one out, thanks. _

Patty looked at them, but said nothing.

“So... where do we start investigating?” asked Riley.

“We don’t,” said Patty.

“What?” Mac burst out. “This is the first lead on Murdoc we’ve had in a month, and...”

“I’m not saying we let the matter go uninvestigated. I’m saying we don’t do the investigating. A team from the Sphinx branch is flying in to take on this case. We’re giving them all our and the CIA’s notes on Murdoc, and letting them have the first look at the car Murdoc drove your mother”—she looked at Riley—“to your house in.” Patty sighed. “Mac, we all know of this man’s obsession with you. Frankly, I’m not sure this isn’t some sort of trap intended to get us to play right into his hands, and if that’s what it is I’m sure as hell not giving him what he wants.” She stared Mac down. “How’s the security on your house?”

“It’s my house,” said Mac fiercely.

“That’s the answer I was afraid of. I’m moving all of you—yes, including Bozer, if he’s willing, though he’s not one of my employees, so I can’t make him without more evidence of a present and immediate threat—to a Phoenix safe house while this case is investigated. No arguments.”

Mac had already opened his mouth to argue, but shut it at those last two words, putting his head down. It was such an immediate response, almost instinctive, that it reminded Jack of the earliest days of their partnership, when Mac was still flinching whenever a Void mage raised their voice.

Jack wanted to argue on Mac’s behalf, but honestly, he knew better.

“What about us?” asked Desi.

“You can stay in your own house, if you’d like—we don’t believe Murdoc knows where you live. Do keep it that way.”

Desi and Sam both nodded.

“Right then,” said Patty. “Let’s get you set up.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! This chapter contains more kidnapping and more guns. Hope you enjoy!

Sam and Desi were sound asleep in their home when Sam’s phone chimed.

<Need you in the office now. Emergency.>

Sam groaned and sat up. It was around 1 AM, she’d only just gotten to sleep. Quickly, she got out of bed, got dressed, grabbed her go bag, and padded out into the hallway. There, she saw Desi, likewise ready to go.

“Pity we don’t have time for coffee,” Desi mumbled.

When they arrived at headquarters, Thornton, Mac, Jack, and Riley were there—as were five strangers.

A woman with light skin and her hair in blonde tufts sat at the table, with a computer open. Next to her sat a brown-skinned man with an air of authority. Across from them were a woman with pale skin and long, dark hair, a similarly pale man with short dark hair and sharp features, and an olive-skinned man with grey hair.

The most striking thing about the strangers, though, was the intense worry radiating off every one of them. Some were doing better than others at keeping it under control—it was most visible in the face of the blonde woman, least in the face of the sharp-featured man—but it was written in every line of every one of their faces, and their brain chemistries were soaking in it.

“What’s wrong?” Sam immediately asked.

The brown-skinned man turned to her. “I’m Director Morgan,” he said, extending his hand, which Sam shook. “In charge of the Sphinx. These are agents Hotchner”—he indicated the sharp-featured man—“Prentiss”—the dark-haired woman nodded— “Rossi”—the grey-haired man—“and my bondmate, Agent Garcia.” He gestured to the blonde woman sitting next to him. “Hotchner and Rossi are also bonded. Hotch is Transition Metals, Garcia is Metalloids.” He sighed. “What’s wrong is the man you sent us to investigate took two of our agents, and we don’t know where they are. We’re trying to find them, but we could use some help from people who’ve dealt with this guy before.”

“Well, we’re here for you,” said Mac. Every eye in the Sphinx looked at him with sympathy, and Sam figured they must have been given a basic rundown of his story before she and Desi had arrived. “I don’t want to see him hurt anyone else.”

“Neither do I,” said Thornton, “which is why I’m giving you full access to our records, our headquarters—until you find your teammates, this space is yours—and our personnel. Mac, Dalton, Davis, Nguyen, Cage, until we find the missing agents, you are to consider yourself at the disposal of the Sphinx team. Give them whatever information or assistance they require.”

“Will do,” said Jack.

“All right,” said Desi, “what can you tell us about the agents Murdoc took?”

Garcia pulled up two pictures on her screen. The first was of a fair-skinned woman with long blonde hair. “Jennifer Jareau. She goes by JJ. Elemental mage, Reactive Nonmetals. Specialist in human biochemistry, very skilled.”

Sam felt the eyes of her own team turn to her.

The second picture was of a similarly fair-skinned man with a mop of messy brown hair. “Dr. Spencer Reid. JJ’s Void mage, although he’s a genius in his own right. Lots of people assume he’s the Elemental when they first meet them, but he’s a Void mage through and through.”

“That’s interesting, that he took a pair,” said Mac. “Did he threaten to split them up at all?”

“At first he was only interested in JJ,” said Prentiss, “but Reid asked to go with her, and Murdoc let him.”

“Any idea why he singled out JJ?” asked Sam.

“She’s the youngest on our team, an Elemental, and a woman,” said Hotchner. “I think Murdoc assumed she’d be the easiest to control.”

Prentiss made a wry expression. “He was wrong about  _ that.” _

Rossi sighed. “JJ and Reid have... they’ve been through a lot. They know how dangerous it is to be taken to a secondary location. Besides, they can practically read each other’s minds by this point. Controlling them both would’ve been difficult.”

“But they’re not unnecessary risk takers,” Morgan pointed out. “Murdoc had a gun. They might’ve decided it wasn’t worth trying anything and risking getting themselves or each other killed.”

“All right,” said Riley, “back up, back up. If we’re going to help you, we need to know what happened.”

Morgan nodded. “Okay.”

...

_ Morgan sat in Phoenix headquarters with Garcia, watching his team’s flashlights shine through the darkness on the security camera feed that Garcia had only recently gotten up and running again and listening through comms. _

_ Sometimes, Morgan wished he could be in the field. But his position as Director suited him, and besides, the field really wasn’t Garcia’s thing. _

_ If him staying at headquarters was what his bondmate needed, well, so be it. _

_ “All right, people,” Morgan said through the comm system. “Talk to me.” _

_ “We’ve got a car, dark blue Hyundai Sonata, parked in the middle of a large open space in the middle of the warehouse,” said Prentiss. On the screen, Morgan watched her try the door. “It’s unlocked. Opening and searching.” _

_ “We’ll keep guard,” said Hotch, gesturing to himself and Rossi as JJ, Reid, and Prentiss began to search the car. _

_ “Hey, I’ve got a phone here,” said Reid with a note of puzzlement in his voice. He picked it up. A moment later, he startled, almost dropping it. “It’s ringing.” _

_ Morgan hesitated a moment. He had a very bad feeling about where this was going. But he knew that, if this really was their target playing games, refusing to play along could just make him angrier. “Pick up.” _

_ Reid did, putting the phone on speaker and holding it within the pickup range of the comms. _

_ Prentiss pulled out her own phone and began recording. _

_ A male voice sounded on the other end. “Sphinx. How very rude of you to butt in on something that isn’t your business. Let me show you how I deal with that kind of behavior. You all haven’t seen this little trick yet, so I daresay you’ll be impressed.” _

_ Red dots appeared on Hotch, JJ, and Prentiss’s heads. _

_ Back at headquarters, Morgan turned to Garcia. “Can you figure out where those are coming from?” _

_ “I’ll try.” _

_ Meanwhile, Morgan turned to Thornton. “Can you get my people some backup?” _

_ “My agents are asleep, getting them to yours will take time, but in the meantime I can call the police.” _

_ Morgan nodded. _

_ The man—at this point, they were all fairly confident he was Murdoc—continued speaking. “Remote guided sniper rifles. Very accurate, very fast. If any of you move, none of you stand a chance. You all know I’m right.” _

_ The members of the Sphinx team looked at each other, nods slowly circulating. _

_ “Now, I want everyone to put their guns down and kick them away. Far away. Ankle guns, too.” _

_ For a moment, no one moved. Then, Rossi slowly put down his gun and kicked it away. The rest followed suit. _

_ “Good, good,” said Murdoc. “You know, I’m disappointed, really. Calling in  _ strangers, _ MacGyver? I must say, I’m hurt.” _

_ That was strange. Murdoc was addressing someone who wasn’t present... of course. He could see Prentiss recording, he must be figuring she’d share the recording with the Phoenix team. _

_ Morgan clenched his teeth. Rogue mages who got this obsessed with one target... it rarely went well. _

_ “What do you want with MacGyver, specifically?” asked Reid. _

_ That was good. Keep him talking. Morgan hoped it worked. _

_ “I’m not going to waste my time talking to you about something you wouldn’t understand. Now. I’m going to hang up the phone, but you are all going to stay very, very still. Tootles!” _

_ With that, the phone went dead. _

_ A few moments later, a man appeared on the screen. He had a box strapped to his body, from which he seemed to be controlling the rifles, and was carrying a large gun, which he pressed to JJ’s head. _

_ JJ stood stock still. _

_ Murdoc moved in close to JJ’s ear, making sure Morgan could hear him, and spoke. _

_ “This one is coming with me,” he said. _

_ “Wait,” said Reid from where he stood, “Let me go with her.” _

_ “Oh, my. Her Void mage?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ Sad as it was, Morgan found himself praying Murdoc would take both of them, rather than just JJ. Reid and JJ had had their bond broken once before, years ago, and they  _ still _ weren’t fully recovered in some ways. He could hardly imagine anything worse than that happening to them again. _

_ Well. Except one or both of them dying. _

_ “Hmm... I’ll allow it. If. You promise not to make trouble, and  _ if _ you ask nicely.” _

_ Reid didn’t miss a beat. “Let me go with her. Please. I promise, I won’t be any trouble.” _

_ Murdoc seemed to consider for a moment. “All right. But one wrong move from you and I shoot her. Your team will still want you back if she’s dead, yes?” _

_ Reid didn’t answer. _

_ “That’s what I thought. Come along, then.” _

_ Keeping his gun on JJ, Murdoc gestured to a manhole cover by his feet. JJ opened it and climbed down, followed shortly thereafter by Reid and Murdoc. _

_ “Garcia, pull up a map of those tunnels,” said Morgan. _

_ “Already on it... oh God, there’s so many...” _

_ Morgan put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey. We’ll find them.” _

_ Five minutes later, the red dots disappeared from the Sphinx team’s bodies. _

_ Five minutes after that, the police showed up. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I finally got chapter 4 written, which means I can finally post this one, hooray! This chapter contains the threat of suffocation (blanket warning for that from here on out) and discussions of vampire bat feeding habits (including blood and regurgitation). Hope you enjoy!

The Sphinx and Phoenix teams had been sharing notes, mapping sewer tunnels, and discussing likely locations for Reid and JJ for forty minutes when the video arrived in Riley’s inbox.

Riley called everyone over, then pressed PLAY.

Murdoc’s face appeared on the screen. “Hello, MacGyver. We need to have a little chat. See, this game isn’t for outsiders. You broke the rules.” Murdoc adopted a whiny voice. “‘But you never told me the rules!’ I hear you protest. Well, that’s true. But  _ whoever _ said I play fair?” He smiled. “So, to punish you for your little...  _ infraction, _ I’ve taken two of the Sphinx team. Because I am feeling so very generous today—” Riley saw Mac wince—“I didn’t even split up a pair. Agents Reid and Jareau are quite...  _ comfortable _ in their new quarters. But they won’t be for long.”

Murdoc spun the camera around to show a box, around the height of a person and roughly cubic, in a darkened room. “This isn’t how I was planning to use this little setup, but... oh well. That room is sealed up tight as a drum. They can’t get out, and air can’t get in. They have... oh, four hours, starting now, until they die from carbon dioxide poisoning... but you knew that, didn’t you, MacGyver? You’d probably calculated that already, oh, this is so much  _ fun!” _ Murdoc  _ squealed. _ “You have four hours to make up your mind. Call off your dogs, send the Sphinx home, and their little  _ friends _ go home with them. Otherwise... in about five hours, I dump the bodies somewhere nice and public. They’ll be found in the morning. Up to you. I’ll be in touch.”

With that, Murdoc hung up.

Rossi swore under his breath.

“Do we have  _ any _ leads on where he might have taken them?” asked Prentiss.

“I can analyze the images and audio in that video, see if we can get anything useful out of it,” said Garcia.

Morgan nodded. 

Hotch spoke up. “He had them on foot at first, but that doesn’t mean they stayed that way. Agent Davis, can you check for reports of stolen cars, car alarms going off, that sort of thing?”

“At this time of night, most people wouldn’t notice their car being stolen,” said Riley, “but I can definitely look.” With that, she started looking.

“Baby girl,” said Morgan, addressing Garcia, “if we assume they traveled through the sewers just far enough to get out of sight, then surfaced and stole a car, what’s the maximum distance they could have traveled?”

“That would really be a better question for...” Garcia trailed off, looking sick.

“For Reid, I know,” said Morgan gently.

“Calculating that now, accounting for traffic at this time of night... for the time it took the rifles to switch off... for likely walking speed...  _ here.” _ Garcia spun her computer around to show a map with a blobby-looking circle on it.

Morgan whistled. “That’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“Well then,” said Prentiss, “We better get going.”

...

JJ sat in the corner of the room she’d been shoved into with Spencer—well, okay. Calling it a  _ room _ was generous.

JJ sat in the corner of the box she’d been shoved into with Spencer and thanked her lucky stars that at least this time, they were together.

She didn’t think either of them could handle a repeat of Georgia.

Spencer was on the other side of the box, pacing—as much as he could, anyway. The ceiling was barely above his head, and the box was about as long and wide as it was high. He was waving his arms around, then periodically stopping and staying stock-still.

“JJ, I need you to hold your breath.” It came out of nowhere.

“Okay,” JJ replied. Over the years, she’d come to trust her bondmate on things like this—they always meant something to him, even if she couldn’t see it at the time, and sometimes it ended up solving a case or saving their lives. So she took a breath in and held it without thinking about it too much.

Spencer put his face to the seam where the door had closed and gently blew out, then waited. After a moment, he drew back, nodding, mouth pressed in a tight line.

“You can breathe now,” he said. “But we might not be able to for long. I’m pretty sure this room is airtight.”

“How long do we have?” asked JJ.

Spencer looked around the room, then shut his eyes for a moment, opening them just as quickly. “Four hours, give or take—until we’re dead, we’ll be unconscious well before that. That’s if we don’t exert ourselves and stay calm.”

JJ gave a quick nod. “Okay. We can do that. The others’ll be looking for us, they’ll find us before then.”

Spencer nodded back. “They’ll find us.”

JJ looked at him. “Hey. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Are you kidding? There was no  _ way _ I was gonna let that happen again. It was as much for me as for you.” Spencer sat down next to JJ and looked off into the middle distance. “Besides, you might not be thanking me in a few hours. Carbon dioxide in here’ll build up twice as fast with two of us.”

“I’d still rather have you here than...” JJ sighed. “I can’t feel you. There’s something in the walls or right outside that’s imbued with Void magic. My powers aren’t working. If they were, I could scrub the CO 2 from the air, convert it back to oxygen, but...”

“It’s okay.” Spencer held out his hand. “I’m right here.”

JJ took it. “Thanks.”

“And I can feel you.” Spencer smiled a little. “Thank goodness.”

In the early days of their bond, when they’d been young twentysomethings, JJ and Spencer had had mild crushes on each other. They’d thought for a bit that they might be the kind of bondmates who ended up falling in love. They’d gotten as far as kissing, once, before deciding that that wasn’t particularly something either of them actually wanted, and their relationship had settled into something they both liked even better—something close to being brother and sister.

Now, neither of them could imagine it any other way.

“So,” said JJ, letting go of Spencer’s hand, “how do you want to pass the time? I Spy’s right out.”

Spencer smiled. “It is.”

“How about... you tell me something interesting?”

“What do you want to hear about?”

“Something that has absolutely nothing to do with breathing.”

Spencer thought for a moment. “Vampire bats have friends.”

“I say ‘nothing to do with breathing,’ and you come up with ‘vampire bats’?” JJ shook her head. “I love the way your brain works. Don’t get it, but I love it.”

“Well, vampires don’t breathe, and it was a short jump from there to vampire  _ bats...” _

JJ smiled. “Okay. Tell me about vampire bats and their friends.”

“So, some species of vampire bats need to eat at least every other day or so, because their metabolisms are crazy fast.” Spencer made a face, like he’d just realized this topic had more to do with breathing than he’d intended, but he pressed on. “Three days without food will kill them. So they’ve evolved a sharing mechanism. Bats who’ve had a successful hunt that night will regurgitate some of the blood they’ve consumed and share it with other bats who haven’t eaten—but only if they’ve known those bats a long time. As in, years. If they don’t know, like,  _ really _ know, and trust another bat, they won’t share food with it. And it’s not necessarily a kin or a mate thing. So vampire bats have friends.” Spencer smiled slightly. “So, if we were all vampire bats, two Sphinx bats or two Phoenix bats would share food with each other, but a Sphinx bat wouldn’t share with a Phoenix bat, or vice versa.”

“That makes sense,” said JJ. “I mean, eating someone’s puke is a pretty personal thing.”

Spencer laughed softly.

“I’m glad some humans are willing to help strangers, though.”

“Me too.” Spencer took a breath in, then blew it out slowly. “Do you think the Phoenix are helping to look for us?”

“I’m sure they are,” said JJ. “We’ve got  _ two _ USMRD teams looking for us. It doesn’t matter how well that bastard’s hidden us, he’s no match for that.”

Slowly, Spencer nodded.

“So, do you want to keep telling me facts?” JJ gestured at herself. “Captive audience.”

Spencer rolled his eyes. “That was  _ terrible.” _

“Well?”

Spencer considered for a moment. “Have I told you about the Three Body Problem?”

JJ smiled. Of course he had, and he knew it, but it was one of his favorite things to talk about, and if it kept him calm she’d happily indulge him. Besides, it wasn’t like she remembered it all that well from the last time. “Tell me again.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter contains descriptions of blood and injury. Hope you enjoy!

Desi watched the door Riley had just disappeared through after getting a phone call, hoping everything was all right—or at least as all right as it could be.

“I’ve got something,” called Garcia, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“What is it?” asked Morgan.

“That video Murdoc sent us? Well, the background isn’t what it looks like. It's a green screen.”

Prentiss sighed. “So... what you’re saying is, they could be anywhere.”

“Did you get anything useful off the audio?” asked Rossi.

“I’m still working on that.” Garcia put her headset back on and resumed her work.

Just then, Riley walked back in.

“No leads from the video so far,” Jack said. “Background’s green screen. Garcia’s working on the audio. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Riley sighed. “It’s my mom. She’s pretty rattled, wishes I’d stay with her. I don’t blame her a bit. I can’t tell her exactly what’s happening, but I told her that we don’t think she’s in any danger, that the man who rescued her did something awful and that I’m trying to catch him, and that I’ll check in with her as soon as I can.”

Jack nodded. “You’re handling this like a champ.”

Riley gave a faint smile. “Thanks.”

From across the room, Rossi exhaled. “We can’t search every abandoned building, warehouse, and basement within the radius we’ve established in the time we have. Even calling in the LAPD, that would take a full day at the least.”

“All right,” said Morgan. “Let’s take what we know of this guy and work from there. Where’s he most likely to have hidden them?”

Sam leaned in. “Last time, he picked the basement of a warehouse. He’s most comfortable in dark places, but he’s unlikely to repeat himself too exactly—he’s better than that. He only used the same capture method with you that he used with us because he knew you hadn’t seen it before. Now that we’re on board, he’ll be being more careful.”

“Something’s bugging me about this,” said Prentiss. “How did he know we were coming? He was obviously prepared for us, specifically. And when you guys searched the car, he didn’t do anything, so it wasn’t a trap meant for you.”

Desi frowned. She’d noticed the same thing. “From what he said on the video, he’d been planning to use the airtight box for something else, so he didn’t need to set  _ that _ up on the fly, but the remote rifles? That was—hang on.” She turned to Thornton, then gestured around the room.

Thornton nodded, and began searching the room. The rest of the Phoenix team followed suit.

Eventually, Mac found a small microphone behind a light socket.

He handed it to Riley, who quickly deactivated it.

Riley looked at Thornton. “Have we hired anyone new at the Phoenix lately? Support staff, that sort of thing?”

Thornton blanched. “Yes. I thought I cleared him, but...”

“Who?”

“Milton Zito. Janitor.”

Desi and Sam looked at each other. Out of the corner of Desi’s eye, she could see Mac, Jack, and Riley doing the same thing.

Riley did something on her computer. “He’s working in Forensics today.”

“Dalton, Mac, Davis,” said Thornton, “Go check Forensics. Find Zito and bring him up here.”

...

Reid and JJ were sitting against the wall of the box, and Reid was starting to get nervous.

He’d stopped reciting facts—talking was using up too much air. They sat in uneasy silence, feeling each breath they took bring a little more poison into their bodies.

Doing his best to ignore his rapidly growing headache, Reid looked over at JJ. Her face was pinched; he suspected she wasn’t doing any better than he was.

Still, compared to some of the times he’d been kidnapped, this honestly wasn’t so bad. He wasn’t being tortured, he was just... sitting. In a box. With JJ. Waiting for his team to show up.

His team would come, he knew. They always had before.

(Sometimes it felt like they were still too late, but they always got to him in time to keep him alive.)

So the question, as always, was:  _ what state will we be in when they find us? _

Or was it?

Reid couldn’t get something he’d learned about in an online philosophy course he’d taken out of his head.

The problem of induction. Raised by David Hume. Basically, it said: how do we know that the past is a reliable guide to the future? Reason alone can’t tell us that future events will resemble past ones, and if we rely on past experience, we’re relying on the very thing that’s being called into question. So how do we know  _ anything _ about the future?

Hans Reichenbach tried to solve the problem by essentially saying, “look. Maybe we  _ don’t _ know for certain that the future will be like the past. But  _ if we’re going to be able to predict it _ , it’ll be because it’s like the past, so we might as well keep making inductive arguments—arguments from known experiences to unknowns—because it’s the best bet there is.” Essentially, we don’t  _ know _ that this style of predicting the future works, but it’s the best we’ve got.

Reid usually found that at least somewhat comforting. He moved on with his life, anyway. But at times like this, when he was desperately hoping the future would resemble the past? Hume tended to come back with a vengeance.

Not helping was his knowledge of the probabilities involved (assuming causation and induction did, in fact, work in a non-Humean manner). He knew the fact that he was still alive was a statistical anomaly.

Eventually, his luck—and JJ’s luck—would run out.

He just hoped it wasn’t today.

...

As Jack, Mac and Riley got to the level where Forensics was housed, they heard a scream.

They looked at each other, then raced toward the sound.

When they got to the lab, they found a woman with dark blonde hair and glasses lying on the floor, groaning and clutching her side. Under her hands, her clothes were stained dark red.

Jack dropped to the floor beside her and put pressure on the wound, causing her to cry out. “Who did this?” he asked.

“The new janitor, I don’t know his name,” the woman gasped out. “I don’t know where he went—ah!”

“Mac, Ri, we better stop this bleeding fast,” said Jack. He looked at Mac. “Any bright ideas?”

Mac looked around. “...Yeah, actually.”

Mac grabbed an extension cord and looked at Riley, pointing to some lab coats hanging on a nearby door. “Could you go get me one of those lab coats?”

Riley ran and retrieved a coat as Mac tied a knot in the cord.

Mac folded up the lab coat into a makeshift bandage, carefully slid the extension cord under the woman’s body, and cinched the lab coat tightly in place. Riley, who had grabbed the woman’s hand as soon as she’d gotten back, winced as the woman cried out.

Mac jumped up, grabbed two bottles from off a nearby table, and wired them together. “Polyol and diisocyanates. When these two chemicals get inside the wound, they harden.” Mac held up his makeshift glue gun apologetically. “Fair warning: this is gonna hurt. A lot. Jack?”

Jack moved his hands out of the way. Mac pushed the tip of the instrument into the woman’s side, and she started screaming, body lifted off the ground.

Once Mac was done applying the compound, the woman fell back.

“It worked,” Mac said, a half-smile on his face.

“You have to stop him,” the woman whispered. “Who knows what he could do...”

“Don’t worry, that’s the plan,” said Jack. “But first, we gotta get you out of here.”

The woman nodded.

“Okay, we’re gonna get you up on one of these rolling tables,” said Mac. “We can use it as a gurney. Jack, Ri, a hand?”

Together, they cleared off a table and lifted the woman onto it, drawing another pained sound from her. Mac winced in sympathy.

“We’re gonna get you out of here,” said Mac. “You’re gonna be all right.” He tried for a smile, which wasn’t very good until the woman managed a small smile in return. “Hey,” he said. “What’s your name?”

The woman’s eyes fluttered closed. “Jill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Reid's philosophy--yes, I'm a nerd. Sorry if that annoyed you. If you liked it, tell me so in the comments and you will make my day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter contains continued references to injury and suffocation. Hope you enjoy!

Mac, Jack and Riley stood in the elevator with Jill on their makeshift gurney, Jack holding his radio.

“This is Jack Dalton, we need this place on lockdown, now,” he was saying to Director Thornton. “Get agents sweeping the building, and call an ambulance. Mac and Ri and I found an agent down in Forensics. She confirmed that Zito is armed and dangerous. Once we get her out of here, we’ll—”

The elevator froze before Jack could finish his sentence.

“Mac?” he said. “Any idea what just happened?”

“Um... I don’t know, but I can tell you the doors on the floors above and below us just locked. I think we’re in full breach protocol.”

“Patty, did you do that?” asked Jack.

“No. Riley, can you get control of the building back?”

“Not from inside an elevator I can’t, but if I got out, sure.”

“Guys...” Jill whispered. “You can leave me here for a bit. It’s okay, you fixed it so I’m not gonna bleed out, right? Just... go catch him.”

“Whoa, whoa, no one is getting left behind, now!” Jack said vehemently. “We’re getting you to a hospital. That’s final.”

Meanwhile, Mac shut his eyes.

He was temporarily overwhelmed by the dizzying sensation of so much  _ empty air _ right under his feet, but he forced himself to focus on the elevator mechanism.  _ Easy, easy... _

Slowly, the elevator began to move downward.

When it stopped, Mac reached out with his power and slowly pushed the doors open. Jack and Riley wheeled Jill out, and Mac stepped out after them.

When they got to the locked door that led to the lobby, they stopped.

Riley sat down, took her rig out of her backpack, and started her work.

Mac wished, not for the first time, that there was a way to override the limited-range Void magic in the doors and walls. It didn’t affect people standing in the hallways, but it meant that using magic to open the doors was out of the question. Necessary as that was in this sort of place, it could sometimes be distinctly annoying.

“Mac?” said Jack. “Can you get us through?”

Mac thought for a moment. “Yeah.”

Jack picked up his radio. “Yeah, this is Jack Dalton. We’ve got an agent with a stab wound to the gut, Mac patched her up but it’s still gonna be a problem unless she gets some help soon. Be advised, we’re gonna breach the door to the lobby to get her out to EMS.”

“How... never mind, just do it,” replied Director Thornton.

“Hey Riley,” said Jack, “update?”

Riley shook her head. “Zito—or whoever he really is—is good, like, scary good. Nothing I do is working, not even when I try manipulating the hardware directly. I’m almost sure this guy’s an Elemental—Metalloids most likely, although I can’t rule out a full. And he’s got years of hacking experience under his belt as well. I can’t even access the cameras.” She sighed. “I’m totally locked out.”

“Well, that’s fantastic,” muttered Jack.

“Even for an Elemental, to do this kind of damage he’d need to be in range of our data center. If you want me to fix this, that’s where we need to be.”

Jack sighed and picked up his radio. “This is Jack Dalton, Riley says she can get control of the building back, but only if she gets to the data center. So, we’re gonna breach this door, get our agent to EMS, go up to level 4, and break through the wall to get her there. Can you spare Sam and Desi to stay with our injured agent, maybe have Sam use some of her healing mojo?”

Director Thornton sighed. “They’re on their way.”

...

Once again, Morgan resisted the urge to look at his watch.

Calm. He had to project calm. The rest of the team were looking to him for how to react, and he had to model effective coping.

Didn’t mean he had to  _ be _ effectively coping.

Reid and JJ were basically his younger siblings at this point. And they were running out of time.

The team had tried everything. Were trying everything. But they had no leads. Garcia hadn’t been able to pull anything useful off the video Murdoc had sent, and they hadn’t come across anything especially useful in the files the Phoenix team had given them. They had a decent profile, but it was painting a picture of a man predictable in broad strokes—everything he did would lead back to Mac in some way—but unpredictable in the details. Contract killers were always the hardest to catch, because nothing was personal to them, and they had years, sometimes decades, of experience at not getting caught. While this one had unaccountably developed a personal obsession, that background would still make him incredibly difficult to trace.

Just then, Garcia’s startled voice snapped Morgan out of his thoughts. “Whoa, whoa, someone’s in the Phoenix network, they’re taking over the entire—”

The lights went out.

A voice over Thornton’s radio said “Patty, did you... that?”

“No,” said Thornton, speaking into the radio. “Riley, can you get control of the building back?” She turned to Garcia. “Or you?”

“Not from... elevator... but... out, sure,” said a different voice over the radio, at the same time as Garcia said, “I’m trying. They’ve sealed all the exits, I can’t access anything.”

“Okay, what’s going on?” asked Prentiss.

“Based on what you said,” replied Thornton, indicating Garcia, “we’re in full breach protocol. Nothing can get in or out of this building—not people, not wifi or cell signals—”

“So no calls for help,” said Rossi.

“No.”

A voice sounded over Thornton’s radio. “Yeah, this is... Dalton. Agent... stab... patched her up... unless she... soon. Gonna breach... out.”

“How... never mind, just do it,” Thornton replied. She turned to the Sphinx team. “We have an agent down. Agents Dalton, MacGyver and Davis are going to breach the door to get her out to emergency services.”

“With what?” asked Rossi.

“I’ve learned not to ask,” Thornton replied. “But from experience, could be anything, could be almost nothing.”

“Okay, I know your people are good,” said Morgan, “but can they really make bombs out of thin air?”

Thornton’s face didn’t change, but something sparkled in her eyes for a moment. “Don’t underestimate Agent MacGyver.”

...

“So, let me get this straight,” said Jack. “You’re going to make a bomb out of thin air?”

“Well, not really a bomb, and only the nitrogen component in air, but essentially, yes. Nitrogen in the air is in a very stable form. If I can rearrange it into an unstable form, then allow it to rapidly convert back to the stable form, it’ll release energy. A  _ lot _ of energy. Which should help us get through that wall.” Mac shut his eyes. “You might want to take cover. Go around the corner or something.”

“Whoa, and leave you out there?”

Mac tilted his head. “Jill, I’m sorry about this, but could we move you off the table?”

“Yeah,” said Jill in a strained tone.

Mac, Jack and Riley wheeled Jill about forty feet from the lobby entrance, then carefully lifted her to the ground, upended the table, and crouched behind it.

“One... two... three... go,” Mac whispered. On “go,” a loud BOOM sounded, followed a second later by the sound of the wall shattering.

When the noise stopped, they carefully looked up at the hole Mac had made in the wall.

Just then, Desi and Sam came running up.

They took in the situation at a glance. In a second, Sam was kneeling by Jill.

“Hi, I’m Sam,” she said. “I’m a Reactive Nonmetals mage, I have some healing abilities. May I help you?”

Jill nodded.

“I’ll go call the ambulance,” said Desi.

Meanwhile, Jack, Mac and Riley were righting the table and lifting Jill back onto it. “You got it from here?” Riley asked Sam.

Sam nodded.

Riley looked at her bondmates. “Then let’s go.”

...

JJ felt like crap.

She was nauseated, and her chest hurt. She could feel her heart racing. Her head was pounding. She felt like she was thinking through molasses.

Every breath she took felt  _ wrong, _ unsatisfying, and she had to fight to keep herself from panting. She knew it was a fight she’d eventually lose, but for now, she had to try to keep the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio in this room as favorable as possible. For herself, and for Spencer.

Spencer wasn’t doing much better. JJ could see his rapid heartbeat in the pulse on his wrist, the pain written on his face. They were slumped against a wall together, leaning on each other heavily. They were both too dizzy and weak to stand.

“Let’s... lie down,” said Spencer. “Takes... less energy.”

JJ silently nodded and slid down the wall. Spencer followed suit, and ended up flat on his back, arms at his sides.

JJ knew Spencer had issues with touch. Part of her wanted to throw an arm over her bondmate, to snuggle up to him, but that wasn’t what he needed. 

Instead, with difficulty, she lifted her hand and plopped it down on Spencer’s.

Spencer took it and squeezed faintly.

As much as she could, JJ squeezed back.

“‘S’gonna be all right,” she whispered. “We’re gonna go to sleep now, ‘n’ we’re gonna wake up, ‘n’ they’ll all be there. ‘N’... M’rg’n’ll make fun of us for gettin’ ourselves in trouble... again...”

Spencer hummed quietly.

“‘N’ they’ll tell us how they found us... how they caught ‘im...”

JJ felt darkness creeping up on the edges of her mind. She was just about to let go, to give in to it, when...

“‘M scared,” Spencer whispered. It sounded like he hadn’t meant to say it, it had just... slipped out. “What if they don’t... in time?”

JJ’s heart broke a little bit. Spencer didn’t normally express emotion that way. For him to say something like that, he had to be in a great deal of distress. “Th’n I’ll be right there with you... whatever happ’ns next,” she replied. “So it’s okay, Spence. B’t... they're g’nna find us.”

JJ’s eyes were closed, but she thought she felt Spencer nod.

“Okay.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everybody! This chapter contains blood and gun violence. Also, I wrote it all today, of which fact I am proud, but in my rush to get it to y'all it's entirely possible I may have missed some errors, so if that's the case I apologize. Hope you enjoy!

Jack, Riley, and Mac walked into the data center through the hole Mac had made in the wall, matching the one downstairs.

Inside, they found a computer still on, with no one sitting at it.

“Well,” said Mac, “he definitely knows we’re here.”

Jack put a finger to his lips. _But not where,_ he mouthed.

Mac nodded.

Jack made a stay-put gesture and started to clear the room. A moment later, he heard soft footsteps behind him, coming from the spot where he’d left his bondmates, and felt Riley on the move.

 _Dammit._ She’d probably decided she couldn’t wait to start fixing the problem. His best shot at keeping her and Mac safe was to finish clearing the room...

As Jack searched row by row, he felt Riley stop moving, and heard a soft _thump_.

Then, she started moving towards him, slowly.

_Oh, no._

Jack followed the bond and found a man with an arm around Riley’s neck, a gun to her head. Riley didn’t have her backpack.

Soon, Mac appeared, having apparently come to the same conclusion Jack had.

Mac put his hands up.

Jack pointed his gun at the man—Zito, probably, if that was even his name. “You let her go right now.”

Maybe-Zito smirked. “Are you really in a position to be making demands? I’ll tell you what’s going to happen here. You’re going to put the gun down. Then, you and both your bondmates are going to step into a closet of my choosing, and I’m gonna lock you in. Void magic in the walls, right? And I doubt you can use the same trick that got you in here—well, if you want to stay in one piece.”

Jack held his gun steady. “Let her go or I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you.”

Mac gave Jack an incredulous look. Fortunately, so did maybe-Zito. And that was all Riley needed.

In the next second, she’d ducked out of his hold and had her hands on the hand that held the gun. Then, maybe-Zito swept her feet out from under her. She managed to grab him on the way down, and they both ended up on the floor.

Jack knew better than to shoot. In the scuffle, he could easily end up shooting Riley—and even if the bullet found its mark, it could easily go through maybe-Zito into her.

Jack felt something in his bond with Mac fluctuate, the way it did when Mac was working a particularly tricky piece of magic. He didn’t dare glance over to confirm, but he saw maybe-Zito’s movement’s getting sluggish, less coordinated.

Then, maybe-Zito seemed to summon a reserve of strength and flipped himself over onto Riley, gun in hand. Jack couldn’t see it. _Please, please, please._

The gun went off.

Jack’s heart stopped for a moment as blood spattered the ground around them.

Then, in the same instant, he realized the spatter pattern was wrong for the person on the bottom to have been shot, and saw Riley start to wriggle her way out from under maybe-Zito’s body.

_Oh, thank God._

The next moment, the relief was tinged with worry.

Riley’s face was disturbingly pale, thrown into sharp relief by the dark red dots flecking it. Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking slightly as she immediately scrambled to her feet.

“Hey,” said Jack. “Hey, hey, talk to me. Are you all right?”

She turned to Mac and Jack. “Yeah,” she breathed, wandering over to a computer bank and leaning against it, still clutching the gun.

“Hey,” Jack murmured. “Give that to me. Give it up, now.” He had to more or less pry it out of her hands, but he tried to do so gently.

“I gotta get back to work,” whispered Riley.

Jack knew there would be time later for processing. Right now, they had two USMRD agents running out of time. And if Riley started feeling what had happened _now,_ she might not get back to functional until it was too late. “Go for it.”

Riley nodded, rested one hand against the data center computer bank, and shut her eyes. After a moment, her forehead wrinkled, and she frowned. “There’s something in here,” she said. “I think it's a virus, but it’s not like any virus I’ve ever seen. I’m going to start trying to clear it, but it might take a while.”

“Would it help if the Sphinx tech person came down to help?” asked Mac.

Riley swallowed, then shook her head. “I don’t... I don’t want her to see.”

“Is there any way she can help remotely?”

“I don’t think so. I think this’ll go faster if I just do it myself.” She went to grab her rig.

Jack nodded. “Okay. Do your thing.”

...

The lights in the briefing room came on, but no one felt like celebrating.

Morgan didn’t blame them. He certainly didn’t either.

Even though everyone knew Riley had been working as fast as she could, they were all conscious of the time that had elapsed since Murdoc’s video. Three hours. And they needed to account for travel time, which could be up to forty-five minutes, according to Garcia’s map.

“When do you think he’ll call back?” asked Prentiss.

“He’s trying to put us on edge,” said Hotch. “He’s trying to gain an advantage. Make us desperate.”

“Hate to say it,” said Rossi, “it’s working.”

“Guys,” said Garcia. “I just got an invitation to a videochat.”

“Put it on the screen,” said Morgan, and Garcia did.

Murdoc’s face appeared.

“Well, well,” he said. “How is everyone doing? Everything up and running again, I see?”

“Where are Reid and JJ?” asked Morgan.

“Eh-eh-eh, that information’s not free,” said Murdoc with a grin. Then, the smile dropped off his face, and his expression was all business. “Here’s what I want. Drop this case and go home. Give me your word that you will never pursue me again. In return, I will give you the location of your agents and my word that I will allow you to retrieve them and leave this city unharmed. You have five minutes to make up your minds. After that, I’ll call back and expect a final answer. I won’t call again. Tootles!”

The man hung up.

Morgan looked around at his team, and the varying levels of distress on their faces.

Hotch spoke first. “There _has_ to be another way. We don’t make bargains with murderers.”

“Well, can you think of one?” asked Rossi.

“There has to be something we missed. We have the network back up now, we can—”

“In fifteen minutes?” Prentiss interjected.

Hotch looked around. “Am I the only one who has a problem with this?”

Morgan took a deep breath. “No,” he said. “I think we all do. But sometimes the only win you get is deciding how you lose.” He sighed. “We’re not winning this one. We need to accept that. And I for one am not losing Reid and JJ.”

Nods all around, except Hotch, who shut his eyes for a moment. “All right. I _hate_ this... but you’re right.”

“That’s decided then,” said Morgan. “When Murdoc calls back... we’ll tell him we’re backing off."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line "I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you" is a reference to the show Firefly, which a) seemed like the sort of thing Jack would reference, and b) is amusing because the actor who played Fake Zito on MacGyver played a recurring character on Firefly (I'm assuming that actor was different in this universe). Best!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody! This chapter contains medical treatment and references to the unauthorized distribution of personal information. Hope you enjoy!

“It’s been five minutes,” whispered Garcia, chewing on her lip.

Rossi checked his watch. “Well, we’ve got another thirty-five seconds of that being the case, so—”

The invitation to videochat appeared on Garcia’s screen.

She frantically clicked it open and put it on the screen, then sat back and tried (not terribly successfully, she suspected) to appear calm.

“Hello there,” said Murdoc, in a tone that would have sent a shudder down Garcia’s spine even if she hadn’t known he had two of her friends... her  _ family _ captive. “Are you ready to give me an answer? I mean, you’ll be giving me an answer either way, but—”

“We accept your terms.” Morgan’s tone was rock steady. “We give you our word—and I give you my word as the director of the Sphinx—that this team will immediately drop our investigation regarding you and never reopen it. As soon as we have retrieved our agents, we will leave Los Angeles and resume our usual work elsewhere. I swear, we will all hold to the terms of this agreement. Everyone else?” He looked around.

Everyone echoed “I swear,” Hotch with an expression like he’d bitten into a lemon.

Murdoc smiled, and Garcia felt sick. “Very good. I’m sending you the coordinates of your agents—Penelope, they should be appearing on your screen... now.  _ I _ swear...”

Garcia was dimly aware that Murdoc kept talking, but she didn’t hear it. The coordinates were within the circle on her map, about twenty minutes’ drive away. “Got ‘em. Sending coordinates to your phones... now.”

Morgan nodded. “Garcia, get LAPD and an ambulance on site. Hotch, Rossi, Prentiss—go bring Reid and JJ home.”

...

Awareness came back to Reid in chunks.

He was lying on a firm surface, with a bit of give to it. A bright light shined against his closed eyes. Something hard clung to his face.

Ambulance. (He was sadly familiar with those, by now.) Oxygen mask.

JJ.

He could feel her nearby. Where was she?

Reid opened his eyes, squinting against the light. Someone he assumed was a paramedic hovered over him.

“JJ?” he tried to ask, but the mask muffled the sound.

He heard another muffled sound to his right, turned his head, and saw JJ lying on the bench, an oxygen mask likewise over her face.

“Welcome back,” Prentiss’s voice said from behind Reid’s head. “You’re both here, alive, and conscious, as of a few seconds ago. Once you’re recovered, you still need to be tested for neurological damage, but you should be okay.”

Reid tried to talk again, sighed, then held up his hand and fingerspelled. H-O-W F-O-U-N-D U-S

Prentiss hissed out a breath through her teeth. “I’ll tell you when we’re back with the team.”

...

When JJ and Spencer walked into the briefing room, accompanied by Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss, they were greeted by a wave of affection and relief so strong it nearly knocked JJ off her feet. Garcia and Morgan both hugged JJ. After a moment, Spencer walked up to Garcia and held out his arms, and she hugged him fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whispered.

Spencer didn’t answer, just held her close for a few seconds before breaking the contact.

“I swear,” said Morgan, looking at Spencer and JJ. “You two...”

Spencer and JJ looked at each other and smiled.

“So how did you find us?” asked Spencer.

Everyone’s faces clouded, and the read JJ was getting from the biochemistries of everyone in the room turned sour.

JJ felt sick. Whatever was coming, it wasn’t good.

“Murdoc offered us a deal,” said Morgan quietly. “Your location for a promise to stop hunting him. We had to take it.”

Spencer blanched.

“To be clear, someone shut down the Phoenix while we were looking,” said Rossi. “We lost the network, the files—we didn’t have much to work with.”

Spencer still looked like he’d just swallowed a live toad which was now frantically trying to kick its way out of his stomach. “I’m gonna...” he gestured towards the door, then speedwalked out.

JJ waited a second, then likewise gestured and followed.

Spencer was leaning against a wall, shoulders slumped, head down. He looked and felt consumed with... guilt?

“What is it?” JJ asked gently.

Spencer looked up at her, then back down.

“It’s okay,” said JJ.

Spencer sighed. “It’s just... this is my fault.”

JJ’s heart clenched. “What do you mean?”

“I mean... if I hadn’t asked to come with you, the Sphinx would’ve had double the time and an extra brain on the problem. Maybe we could’ve found you without having to take Murdoc’s deal. Maybe we could’ve caught him and put him away, and... and anyone he kills now—”

“Hey,” said JJ. “First, you couldn’t have known coming with me was gonna shorten our window to be found. Second, if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have been in much shape to help, and you know that. Third, we don’t know what would’ve happened, so there’s no sense beating yourself up about hypothetical could-bes. And fourth, people Murdoc kills are on him.  _ Not you. _ Understand?”

Spencer stared at her. “When did you take debate?”

“I didn’t. That was all common sense.”

Just then, Prentiss’s voice called “knock, knock.”

“Yes?” called JJ.

“We have to go. Part of the deal was we leave the city as soon as we have you.”

JJ looked at Spencer. “You ready?”

She read the  _ no _ on his face, but he said, “yeah.”

...

The Sphinx were gone.

Sam, Desi, Mac, Jack, Riley, and Thornton were gathered in the briefing room, agitation woven through the uncomfortable silence.

“Someone needs to say it,” Desi finally said. “We just got played.”

“I second that,” grumbled Jack.

“I can’t believe he got away again,” whispered Riley.

Mac was silent, but Sam could feel the turmoil of anger and fear in his mind.

“Everyone,” said Thornton, in a tone that made Sam snap to attention. She’d been noticing Thornton chewing on something important, and sensed that they were about to hear it. “I have an announcement to make.” She took a breath as the room waited. “I informed the Chief Director of the situation and accepted full responsibility. I should have vetted Zito more carefully. Because of my negligence... the data center containing information on every Elemental in this nation, and the bondmates of those old enough to be bonded, was compromised. Davis has reported to me that she doesn’t believe any data was stolen, but it easily could have been. The theft of information like that... it’s a nightmare scenario. One it was my responsibility as director of this organization to prevent. And we only avoided it by sheer dumb luck.”

“C’mon, Patty,” Jack interjected. “This wasn’t your—”

“It was.” She looked at each of them in turn. “The Chief Director determined that I should not continue as the director of the Phoenix.”

Sam looked around the room, reaching out with her powers at the same time, and assessed how everyone was taking the news.

Desi was calm. Mac and Jack both seemed upset at the situation, but not at Thornton.

Under a calm-appearing exterior, Riley was  _ scared. _

That made sense. A new boss might decide having a former felon on the team was an unacceptable risk and revoke her conditional release. That had to be a terrifying prospect.

“What steps will you take to ensure continuity of leadership?” Sam asked. “Especially in terms of maintaining our established team setup.”

Thornton nodded, with a glance at Riley. “I’ll certainly have a talk with my replacement about how important it is to morale and working relationships to keep established teams together. And how utterly vital to this team each and every one of you is.”

_ Good. She got the message. _ Sam felt Riley relax a tiny bit, although she was still very much on edge.

“And, as a warning, I may not have much sway. The fact that I’m leaving because of a mistake I made means my opinions won’t be taken into consideration very much.”

“We understand that,” said Sam, “but thank you anyway.”

Thornton gave a curt nod. “My replacement will be here at 2:00 P.M. tomorrow. Meet us here by then. Don’t be late.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Sorry it's been forever! This chapter contains mentions of prison and going on the run from the law. Hope you enjoy!

When Mac, Jack and Riley arrived at home, Mac noticed Jack giving him a look. The look that meant “I need to talk to you alone”.

He waited until Riley was fixing herself dinner and Bozer was editing a video, then followed Jack outside. “What’s going on?”

Jack took a slow breath in and out. “Mac... I need to ask you something. And... it’s a pretty big something.”

“...Okay.” Mac had a feeling he knew why Jack was acting so weird. He was probably worried about their new boss, and what that might mean for Riley in particular. 

Mac couldn’t blame him. He was worried for Riley, too. But he wasn’t sure what it was Jack wanted to ask.

“If, whoever our boss is, their decision goes against Riley... I’m leaving Phoenix. Going on the run with her, if I have to. And I’m asking you if you’d want to come with us, or if I’d need to find someone to dissolve the bond.” He sighed. “I realize it’s a big ask. And that I’m putting you in kind of an impossible situation, because your choices are give up your job and your life and your best friend and everything you know, or give up your bondmates and have to bond with a stranger. Which is a shitty thing to do to you, frankly. But...” Jack’s voice broke. “This is what I have to do for Riley. I can’t let her go back to prison, you understand that? And then, once she gets out, for her to have to bond with some random person, and of course no one cares who they assign ex-felons to... I really hope it doesn’t come to this, but... I need to know if you’re in.”

“You done?” asked Mac.

“Yeah.”

“Of course I’m in.” Mac hadn’t had the slightest bit of doubt, listening to Jack talk, what his answer would be. “I care about Riley, too. I don’t want her to go back to prison either. So I’m with you on this, one hundred percent.”

Jack looked relieved. “I thought you’d say that. But I had to be sure before I told Riley.” He looked Mac in the eye. “And hey. This isn’t some bullshit thing like Riley’s more important to me than you, do you understand that? I love you both. Right now it’s Riley I’m more worried about, but that doesn’t mean you matter any less to me. I...” he trailed off. “She was so scared. Remember those first few weeks, after we got her out? She was always looking over her shoulder, always jumping at the littlest thing. You know I dated her mom for a few years when she was a teenager, and... well, let’s just say I know how Riley acts when she’s afraid. Hell, she was afraid of  _ me _ at first. I... I can’t let her go back there.” Jack ran a hand over his head. “I can’t.”

Mac nodded. He couldn’t deny that some tiny, stupid, selfish part of him had been a little hurt that Jack was just announcing his plan, let the consequences for Mac fall where they may. But he understood. And he truly was more than willing to do whatever was necessary to keep Riley safe and out of prison—up to and including going on the run. For the rest of his life, if necessary. 

“Well,” said Jack, “if that’s settled, I think we need to call a family meeting.”

...

Riley was just sitting down with the leftovers of last night’s chicken Parmesan when Mac and Jack walked back through the door.

She’d known something was up as soon as she saw them sneak out when they thought she was distracted. They were giving each other a Significant Look.

Riley had no idea what it meant.

“All right,” said Jack, settling himself down on the couch next to Mac. “Everybody, get over here. We need to have a family meeting.”

“What’s this about?” asked Bozer.

“Work, but you stay, it applies to you too.”

Just when everyone was assembled, the doorbell rang.

Riley, who was closest to the door, got up to answer it and found Sam and Desi standing in front of her.

“Um... hey,” she said. “Jack just called a family meeting, so...”

“That’s probably why we’re here,” said Sam.

_ This is getting weirder and weirder.  _ Riley stepped aside to let Sam and Desi into the house.

“Oh, hey,” Jack said as they settled themselves in the living room. “Your timing is scary as usual. I was just about to talk about the situation with the new boss.”

“What situation?” asked Desi. “We haven’t even met them yet.”

“The one where they’ll have the authority to put all of Thornton’s more controversial decisions under review, and could easily send Riley back to prison if they decide she’s too big a risk.” Sam nodded at Jack. “I understand. And Riley, I know how frightened you must be right now, and I promise, this team will do everything we can to keep that from happening.”

“That’s actually what I was planning to talk about.” Jack looked over at Sam and Desi. “I was hoping not to involve you two in this, but I don’t figure I could keep you out if I tried, so...” His gaze shifted to Riley. “If the new director decides to send you back—assuming it’s okay with you, Mac and I will go on the run with you.”

Riley’s heart stopped.

Riley had known Jack cared about her—Mac too. But... she hadn’t been expecting this. Mac had only known her for six months, after all. And Jack... Jack had been doing what he did for so long, it was hard to imagine him giving it all up. But the evidence was right there.

“Hell yeah it’s okay with me,” Riley finally got out. “I... thanks.”

“You know,” said Sam, “that might not have to happen.”

“Yeah, I know they’ll probably keep Riley on, but...”

“That’s not what I meant. If we all threaten to quit together, the boss will have no choice but to keep her on if they still want to have a team. Recruiting new people is time and effort most people wouldn’t be willing to put in.”

“Course, if you do wind up needing to run, we’ll have your back,” said Desi. “We can get you stuff, cover for you, all that.”

Riley wasn’t sure what to say.  _ Thank you _ didn’t really cover it. She looked at Sam and Desi, hoping her face would convey what her voice couldn’t.

“Of course we’re all in,” said Sam. “You’re one of us now.”

“And we don’t leave our own out to dry on this team,” Desi added.

“Okay,” said Jack. “So we go in, wait to see if the boss is gonna reconsider Riley’s place on the team, and if they do, we tell them we’re all quitting if she doesn’t stay. Worst case scenario, Ri, Mac, we can stash some stuff ahead of time, be ready to hightail it the moment the decision goes against you,” Jack said, looking at Riley. “Sound good to everybody?”

Murmurs of assent all around. 

“We might not have to do anything,” said Sam. “We don’t know who the boss  _ is _ yet.”

“Well,” said Mac, “I guess we find out tomorrow.”

...

Desi sat in the briefing room with her team and watched one of the overhead lights flicker.

Everyone had arrived well in advance of 2:00. The rest of their lives could depend on making a good impression on their new boss, after all. Thornton wasn’t there, which Desi thought was odd. She’d said “meet  _ us _ here,” after all.

The light kept flickering.

Eventually, Desi’s patience ran out.

“Mac, could you do something about that light?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah,” said Mac. “Sorry.” A moment later, the light glowed steadily once again.

Normally, Mac was the one most likely to be bothered by flickering lights and other things of that nature. If he hadn’t noticed, it meant he was way off in his head.

Desi couldn’t blame him.

She was staring down the loss of her job. He was staring down a lifetime on the run from the law.

That had to occupy a lot of mental bandwidth.

Desi glanced at her watch. 1:55.

Just then, Thornton walked in.

Next to her was another woman Desi didn’t recognize.

Desi wasn’t sure what she noticed about the woman first—her remarkably short stature, remarkable aura of power, or the remarkably displeased expression on her face as she looked around the room.

Her eye settled on Jack.

“Jack,” she said.

“Matty,” said Jack flatly.

Desi had to admit, she was going to grill her bondmate when this was over for any clues she’d picked up on what the story here was. And Jack, naturally, but she suspected he’d be less than forthcoming.

Until then, she watched as the woman made her way to the front of the room.

“My name is Matilda Webber,” the woman said. “Call me Matty. I’m the new director of the Phoenix branch. Your previous director—” she indicated Thornton at the back of the room—“has advised me that you’re a close-knit group, which could be a good thing or not. It’s up to you to show me which it is.” She looked at Jack, Mac and Riley. “Honestly, I’m concerned about a team with no unbonded mages and only two sets of bondmates. It gives you less flexibility than I’d like to see. But I’m open to changing my mind  _ if _ you show me it works.”

“We will,” said Sam.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! So, I know I said this was gonna be the last chapter, but... that didn't happen. This chapter contains a description of a past abusive bondmate relationship (no main characters involved), more discussion of running from the law, and a brief alcohol mention. Hope you enjoy!

Sam sat by the fire on the deck of Jack, Riley, Mac, and Bozer’s house, beer in hand, and leaned over towards Jack.

“So,” she said slowly, “what’s the story on you and Matty?”

Jack sighed. “I was wondering how long it’d be until someone asked me that.”

“Well?” asked Mac.

Jack stared into the fire. “It’s... a long story.”

Sam arched an eyebrow. “You know I’m going to get it out of you eventually, so you might as well tell us now and spare us both the time and trouble.”

Jack nodded slightly, apparently seeing her logic. There was a faraway look in his eyes, and Sam could feel him growing upset. Part of her wanted to stop him, to tell him he didn’t have to tell them if he didn’t want to, but she knew whatever it was would just simmer until Jack got it out in the open. So she let him continue.

“Before I came to work for Phoenix, I used to work on one of the other USMRD teams,” said Jack. “Merrow. First Matty was a field agent with me, then she worked her way up to Director. For a while it was me, Matty, and a bonded pair named Hadley and Griggs. It was great, we worked well together, and then...” Jack blew out a sharp breath. “We needed someone who was good with tech, and Matty decided we needed more bodies in the field, since she wasn’t anymore. So she brought on another pair. Names were Moss and Haykin. Haykin was Metalloids, computer genius—bit like you, Ri. She was fresh out of the Academy, but her instructors had vouched for her. She was good, like, scary good. So they put her with Moss because he had CIA experience, he could watch her back in the field, the thinking went, and sent them to work for us. Only...” He looked at Mac. “You remember all the things you were afraid of? When you first bonded with me? Like, worst-case scenario?”

“Yeah,” said Mac with a well-concealed but definitely present shudder.

“Well, I’m pretty sure Moss was all that and worse. I mean, he was never obvious about it. At work I don’t think I ever saw him come within three feet of her, or even raise his voice. But the scary thing was, he didn’t need to. Anything he said, she’d do it right away. And... you could just see it in her eyes. She was scared. All the damn time.” Jack’s voice broke. “I don’t know if Hadley and Griggs knew, but I did. Well, at the time, I wasn’t completely sure. Thought I might’ve been seeing things. Even once I was pretty sure, I was scared reporting it would get Haykin in more trouble. Bastards like that, someone talks to them about it, they just get worse. And, I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure it was my place to say anything.” He shut his eyes. “I should’ve said something sooner. But the fact is, I didn’t. And Moss was always so careful, Matty might’ve suspected, but she didn’t have any evidence.”

“So what happened?” asked Sam gently.

“Something had to give. On a field team, you don’t trust each other, you don’t live long. There was this mission, and we weren’t communicating like we should’ve been... we fucked up. We all did. And... Hadley and Griggs didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry,” said Sam, silently gauging everyone’s reactions. Desi was furious, but not at Jack. Mac was closer to horrified—probably thinking how the same thing could easily have happened to him. Riley was somewhere in between.

“When we got back, Matty called everyone in one by one. She talked to Haykin first. They talked for a while. Moss was next, and I saw Haykin leaving, fast, without him.” Jack poked at the fire, although it didn’t need it. “Matty knows how to dissolve bonds, apparently. If I had my guess, she dissolved Moss and Haykin’s and told Haykin to run. Moss was in briefing for hours, and by the time he got out, Haykin was long gone. I looked her up once; she doesn’t exist on the web anymore. Probably set up a new life, new identity for herself somewhere. And Matty... Matty took the fall. She claimed full responsibility for that disaster of a mission, and for losing Haykin, and got demoted to who-knows-where. Moss and I got reassigned, which is how I wound up at Phoenix. Don’t know where he is, don’t much care to, and I hope to God they never assigned him another Elemental. Matty... don’t know where she ended up either, but if I know her, she’s been working her way back up all this time.” He looked down. “I should’ve faced consequences for what happened on that op. Because of Matty, I got off easy. And she got the short end of the stick. So, honestly... I don’t know how this working-together thing is gonna go.”

“If she cared about you that much then,” said Sam gently, “I’m sure she’ll be alright to work with you now.”

“Maybe,” said Jack.

“Well, on that depressing note,” said Desi, “should we get going?” She looked at Sam.

“Probably should,” Sam agreed. “Good night, everybody.”

...

When Jack walked into the Phoenix briefing room the next morning, with Mac and Riley close beside him, he was silently praying this went better than he thought it would.

He’d stashed a bag of stuff—clothes, fake IDs (Riley-made, and therefore completely solid), water, food, cash—in a spot he knew and Phoenix didn’t. He and his bondmates had been up a good chunk of the night before getting ready (Riley had insisted they didn’t need to stay up for the part where she was filling in their cover identities, but they’d been firmly set on keeping her company, and in the end she’d seemed to appreciate it).

Jack hoped they wouldn’t have to use any of that.

Sam and Desi were already there, as was Matty. When they walked in, Matty turned to them. “I’m going to be doing individual evaluations today. Riley, you’re up first.”

Riley froze.

“Wait,” said Jack. “Is this to assess whether Riley’s going to stay on the team?”

Matty gave him an unreadable look. “I understand that Riley is very valuable to this team’s operations. She’s also a hacker. This facility stores a database with some very sensitive information. So yes, I’ll be assessing the risks and benefits of keeping her on. Riley, if you’ll come with me.”

“Before you make that decision,” said Jack, “there’s something you need to know.”

“And what’s that?”

Desi stepped forward. “If Riley’s off this team, so are we.”

“That’s right,” said Sam. “All of us.”

Matty looked at each of them in turn. “I want to be very clear. If I remove Riley Davis from this team, what will the rest of you do?”

“Des and I will quit,” said Sam.

“And Riley and Mac and me will disappear,” said Jack. “I promise, you won’t find us.”

Matty stared at them. “Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“Yes,” said Jack.

“You realize I could report you to the Chief Director, right?”

“And we’d what?” asked Desi. “Lose our jobs?”

“Do you really want to replace this entire team?” said Mac, and damn if Jack wasn’t proud of him. Six months ago, or even three, he’d never have stood up to a Void mage like that.

“And you’re all sure about this?” said Matty.

“We are.” Jack looked her in the eye.

For a moment, no one breathed.

Then, a small smile flickered on Matty’s face. “It’s good to know what kind of team I’m working with right out of the gate, I suppose. Riley, your place on this team is secure—I doubt you’d have inspired this much loyalty if you were going to be trouble. I’m still going to need to talk to each of you individually, but it’s more directed at getting to know your strengths and weaknesses.” She looked at Jack. “New plan: you first.”

Jack took a subtle deep breath. _Here goes nothing._


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody! Last chapter! This one contains continued mentions of prison and a past abusive bondmate relationship. It also contains a reference to using oneself as bait, because Mac is Mac. Hope you enjoy!

Matty turned when she’d made her way to the front of the small room she was using for evaluations and gestured for Jack to sit.

She wanted his face close to hers for this conversation. She needed to read his expressions carefully, determine if he meant what he said.

Jack was a good agent, and, she thought, a good man.

(That wasn’t why she’d been willing to lose everything to protect her team from more severe consequences. She’d done that to keep Haykin safe, do what she could to ensure she wasn’t hunted down and punished for something that was in no way her fault, and, a little bit, to atone for her remarkable failure as a director, ignoring the signs for a full six months. She should’ve acted, evidence or no. She should’ve found an excuse to talk to Haykin alone and just  _ asked.) _

But she needed to know how he felt about what had happened, and how genuine those feelings were.

“So, we cool?” asked Jack in that strained tone that meant he was trying to put on a front of bravado and failing miserably at it.

“That depends,” Matty replied. “Are you gonna apologize?”

Jack lowered his head. “Matty, I am so sorry.”

“For what, exactly?”

Jack raised his head, nostrils flaring. “Oh, we’re gonna do this? The thing where you make me spell out what I did wrong just to rub my nose in it, that it?”

“No, Jack,” Matty said. “I just want to know what  _ you _ think you did wrong. Because I can think of a few things.”

“That’s not fair—”

“Isn’t it?”

Jack sighed and put his hands on his knees. He looked at the ceiling, then back at Matty. “I’m sorry for not telling you what I thought was going on with Moss and Haykin. And I’m sorry for that mission. God, I...” his voice caught. “I wish I could do it over. There was no trust on that team, because there shouldn’t’ve been, and if I’d said something when I had the chance maybe Hadley and Griggs would still be alive and Haykin would’ve gotten away from that asshole sooner. So... I’m sorry.”

Matty looked at him for a moment, considering. Then, she nodded. “A nice speech, and, I believe, sincere. But I’m going to want to see you do better.”

Jack looked her in the eye. “Will do.”

...

Riley’s heart was racing when Matty and Jack walked back into the briefing room.

She didn’t know if she hoped she’d get called back next, to get it over with, or if she hoped someone else, anyone else, would get called in.

“Riley?” Matty called, and Riley’s stomach dropped.  _ Well, guess that settles it. _

When they’d settled in the evaluation room with the door closed, Riley took a deep breath.  _ It’s gonna be fine. She already said she wasn’t gonna fire me. It’s gonna be fine. _

Matty looked her directly in the eye. “You were in Elemental prison, two years into a five-year sentence, when you were released on the condition that you help Phoenix. Six months later, your team are ready to give up their jobs, their  _ lives, _ to help you. What happened?”

Riley blinked. She looked at her hands, folded in her lap. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

“Not good enough.”

Riley took a breath. She knew what she was about to say was risky. But she also knew she had a safety net. And she needed to prove that she wasn’t afraid. “If you want me to tell you I’m irreplaceable to this team, I can do that. If you want me to tell you I’m one of the top five hackers in the world, I am. But that’s not why they’re willing to do this for me. That’s because this team, me and Jack and Mac and Sam and Desi, are a family. And we don’t leave anyone out to dry. I’d do the same for any of them.”

Matty nodded slowly. “What worries me is that that level of loyalty might mean you’re all blind to each other’s faults. If you do start slipping up, I don’t think any of them would report you. And I worry about what happens when you get bored.” She caught Riley’s eye again. “I know you hacked the Pentagon.”

Riley’s stomach lurched. She carefully schooled her face into nonchalance. “I don’t...”

“Yes, you do. You went to great lengths to anonymize yourself, but I know it was you. You snooped around, but you didn’t steal any files. What I don’t know is, why?”

“Look, I’m not denying I’ve made some really bad decisions—”

“May I hazard a guess?”

Riley stared directly ahead.

“I think you hacked the Pentagon just to see if you could. See, that mind of yours is like a loaded gun. And a gun just wants to fire. It doesn’t particularly care who or what it aims at. So, when it comes down to it, I wonder if you’ll be as loyal to your team as you say you are—as they are to you. Or if you’ll just chase whatever gives you that thrill of a challenge—no matter who gets hurt.”

Riley’s jaw clenched. She didn’t want to say this, didn’t want to share something so personal with this Void mage who didn’t seem to trust her at all. But she couldn’t let that stand. “Do you know why I went to prison?”

“You hacked the NSA.”

“Badly. I made sure I got caught.”

That seemed to take Matty by surprise, but she recovered almost before Riley could see it. “Why?”

“Because the people I was working for wanted something I knew they could use to hurt a lot of other people. Even back then, I wasn’t a monster. But the Organization wasn’t the kind of place you just left. So I did it, but I made sure to get found out before I completed the hack. I knew they’d send me to prison—and out of reach of the Organization, or any computers. No one could use me as a weapon again, at least until I got out.” Riley took a subtle deep breath. “That’s the kind of person I am. And working with the USMRD has finally given me a chance to do the right thing. That—that, and joining this team? Best thing that’s ever happened to me. So no, I won’t sell them out. No matter what.”

Matty nodded. “I believe you. For now. We’ll have to talk if you ever give me a reason to think otherwise. Until then... I look forward to working with you.”

Riley smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

...

Mac sat in the briefing room and twisted one of the paperclips from the bowl on the table into the shape of an eye.

Under the table, he tapped his foot on the floor.

“Y’know, we’ll all fight for you too, if we have to,” said Jack. “Right?”

Sam and Desi murmured their agreement.

Mac smiled a little. “Thanks, but... I’m not gonna go to prison if she decides to kick me off the team. I’d never ask you guys to risk that for me.”

“Which is why you don’t have to ask,” Sam replied.

Just then, Matty and Riley walked into the room, Riley looking distinctly rattled. “Mac, you’re up,” Matty called.

Mac rose from his chair and followed Matty to the evaluation room.

When they were both seated, Matty looked at Mac. “MacGyver, I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve been over your record, and I have some concerns.”

Mac’s stomach dropped. He tried to keep his face neutral. “What concerns, ma’am?”

Matty sighed. “Call me Matty. Not  _ ma’am.” _

“Yes, ma—Matty.”

Matty sighed. “My concerns are as follows. From your file, you’re an improviser. A fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type. I looked at the initial reports from your instructors at the Academy, and apparently you were a troublemaker. Thornton may have liked that, but I don’t. Now, I’d have my reservations about that on its own. But as part of a bonded unit with a hacker and Jack Dalton?” She tipped her head slightly to the side. “Jack’s a hell of an agent, but he operates on instinct. He’s impulsive. When it’s just him, I’ve been working with him long enough that I know how to use that. But him, Riley and you? That’s a potentially very volatile combination.”

Mac swallowed. “Is that all?”

“No. Having a bonded trio is unusual and comes with its own risks. There’s more opportunity for one of you to be hurt and bench the others, more chances for one of you to be used against the team. We’ve already seen Murdoc do that.”

Mac tried not to flinch. He wasn’t sure how successful he was.

“And, furthermore, you were brought onto this team for a specific purpose—to bring The Ghost into custody. So far, that hasn’t happened. You’ve had six months.” She stared at him. “Tell me why I should keep you on. And ‘my team will quit if you don’t’ isn’t going to cut it.”

Mac swallowed. He felt like a teenager again, under a Void mage instructor’s stern gaze. But he held his eyes steady.  _ Your team are right out there. They believe in you. _

Mac lined up what he wanted to say in his head, turned it into block letters, and put them out in the air so he could read them off as they went by. It was a trick he’d learned a while back for talking when his voice didn’t want to work. “Okay. First, yes, I improvise. And it’s true, my bondmates aren’t the most plan-oriented people either. But we  _ work. _ I know you’ve looked at our records, so you know that. We may not have captured The Ghost or Murdoc, but there’s never been a USMRD team in history with a 100% success rate. And ours is very, very high. Second, there are risks associated with our triple-bond, but it’s the best setup for us. Riley can’t be replaced. All due respect, neither can I. And bringing on another Void mage to a team that already has everyone it needs would be pointlessly risky. We don’t know what it would do to the group dynamic. We work well as we are because we’re comfortable. If you mess that up, I don’t know what’ll happen, but I know it won’t be good.”

Matty raised an eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”

_ Shit. _ Mac’s blood turned icy. He took a breath. “No, just a statement of fact.”

Matty leaned forward slightly. “Continue.”

“Third, I know I haven’t brought The Ghost into custody. But look at the record. From what we’ve been able to determine, in the six months since I was brought on, he’s done nothing in the United States and, according to Charlie Robinson, our contact in the US Army’s EOD division, very little abroad. And, to be blunt, he hired a hit man to kill me. He’s scared. That makes him more likely to screw up. And, Matty?”

Matty raised an eyebrow.

“When he does, we’ll get him.”

Matty nodded.

“Also, Murdoc? S-218? I know he’s been on everyone’s most wanted list for a long time. And now he’s obsessed with me. If you want to catch this guy, believe me, you want me around.” Mac wasn’t sure about saying that part, but it  _ was _ part of his usefulness to the team, and he didn’t want to leave anything out.

Matty looked at him incredulously. “Are you volunteering yourself as bait?”

“Yes.”

Matty gave him an appraising look. “Good. You can stand up to me. I wasn’t sure about that. But I’m still going to be watching your team—especially your bond group.”

“I understand.”

“Good.”

...

While Desi and Sam were being evaluated, Jack, Mac and Riley were in the car on the way home.

Jack was driving, Riley had shotgun, and Mac was in the back. “So how’d your evals go?” Jack asked. “I mean... if you wanna talk about it.”

“She’s gonna be watching us,” said Mac. “She thinks our three-person bond is a potential liability.”

“Well, if I know Matty, she’ll come around as soon as she sees it works,” said Jack, turning a corner. “Till then, we’re just gonna have to be at our best. You two up to the challenge?”

Riley took a breath. “Now that I know I’m not going back to prison? Hell yeah. Mac, how ‘bout you?”

Mac smiled. “I look forward to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! We've reached the end of this fic! Now we can move on to the fourth and final(!) fic in this series! That one may be a while in coming--I need to plan, and I have some other stuff I'd like to work on--but it will happen. It also won't be a crossover, so if that annoyed you, rest assured the next one will be free of that. Thank you so much for reading! Best!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I hope you liked this! If you did, please let me know below!


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